Mutant Glucose Dehydrogenase

ABSTRACT

A mutant glucose dehydrogenase having an improved substrate specificity to glucose, which is a protein comprising the amino acid sequence depicted in SEQ ID NO:3 or an amino acid sequence having the substitution, deletion, insertion or addition of one or more amino acid residues excluding amino acid 365 in the amino acid sequence depicted in SEQ ID NO:3 and having a glucose dehydrogenase activity, the amino acid residue corresponding to amino acid 365 being substituted by other amino acid residue.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a mutant glucose dehydrogenase showing improved substrate specificity. The mutant glucose dehydrogenase of the present invention can be suitably used for glucose sensors, glucose assay kits and so forth, and is useful in the fields of biochemistry, clinical medicine, and so forth.

BACKGROUND ART

In recent years, a variety of enzymes are used as biosensor elements. Glucose oxidases (GODs) have already been practically used as sensor elements for measuring blood glucose levels for the purpose of diagnosis of diabetes. However, GODs suffer from a problem that they are affected by dissolved oxygen in samples. Therefore, glucose dehydrogenases (GDHs), which are not affected by dissolved oxygen in samples, are drawing attentions as alternatives of GODs.

As GDHs, one requiring NAD(P)⁺ as a coenzyme (E.C.1.1.1.47), one requiring pyroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) as a coenzyme (PQQGDH; E.C.1.1.99.17) etc. have been reported. GDH requiring NAD(P)⁺ as a coenzyme suffers from a problem as a sensor element that NAD(P)⁺ needs to be added to the assay system. On the other hand, it is unnecessary for coenzyme-binding type GDHs such as PQQGDH to add a coenzyme to the assay system.

Further, sensor elements are desired to exhibit a stability that the function as a sensor is not lost even when they are continuously used or left at room temperature.

Since enzymes derived from thermophilic bacteria which grow at high temperature generally exhibit high thermostability, and high stability even in long-term storage, continuous use and so forth, application of them as sensor elements is expected. However, although GDHs derived from Thermoplasma acidophilum and Sulfolobus solfataricus have been reported as thermostable GDHs derived from thermophilic bacteria, both of them require NAD(P) e as a coenzyme.

On the other hand, thermostable GDH produced by Burkholderia cepacia, a moderately thermophilic bacterium, is an FAD-binding type GDH, and the enzymological characteristics thereof such as optimum reaction temperature, thermostability and substrate specificity have already been elucidated (Patent document 1). This GDH usually exists as a heterooligomer consisting of a catalytic subunit (α-subunit) showing high heat resistance, an electron transfer subunit (β-subunit), which is cytochrome C, and γ-subunit of which function is unknown, and its optimum reaction temperature is 45° C. These subunits are dissociated by a heat treatment at a temperature higher than 50° C. to release the α-subunit monomer of which optimum reaction temperature is 75° C. The α-subunit monomer is thermostable and exhibits 80% or more of residual activity even after a heat treatment at 60° C. for 30 minutes. The genes coding for these subunits have also already been isolated (Patent documents 1 and 2).

However, coenzyme-binding type GDHs generally exhibit a broad substrate specificity, and also react with maltose, galactose and so forth in addition to glucose. When they are applied as a glucose sensor for monitoring blood sugar levels of diabetic patients, and the diabetic patients have such severe symptoms that peritoneal dialysis must be performed, there is a risk that values higher than the true blood sugar levels may be obtained, because a large amount of maltose is contained in the dialysate. GDH derived from Burkholderia cepacia also exhibits reactivity to maltose and galactose in addition to glucose.

A technique of changing substrate specificity of GDH by introducing an amino acid substitution mutation is known. As such mutant GDHs, for example, there are known PQQGDHs derived from E. coli (Patent documents 3 and 4), Acinetobacter calcoaceticus (Gluconobacter calcoaceticus) (Patent document 5), and Acinetobacter baumannii (Patent documents 6 to 8) requiring pyroloquinoline quinone as a coenzyme.

[Patent document 1] U.S. Patent Application No. 2004/0023330 [Patent document 2] International Patent Publication WO03/091430 [Patent document 3] Japanese Patent Laid-open (Kokai) No. 10-243786 [Patent document 4] Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2001-197888 [Patent document 5] Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2004-173538 [Patent document 6] Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2004-313172 [Patent document 7] Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2004-313180 [Patent document 8] Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2004-344145

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide an FAD-binding type GDH showing an improved substrate specificity to glucose.

The inventors of the present invention conducted various researches in order to achieve the foregoing object. As a result, they found that by modifying the amino acid sequence of the FAD-binding type GDH derived from Burkholderia cepacia at a specific site, the reactivity thereof to sugars other than glucose could be decreased while maintaining the reactivity to glucose, and thus accomplished the present invention.

That is, the present invention provides the followings.

(1) A mutant glucose dehydrogenase having the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3 or an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3 including substitution, deletion, insertion or addition of one or more amino acid residues other than the amino acid residue at the 365th position and having glucose dehydrogenase activity, wherein an amino acid residue at a position corresponding to the 365th position of the amino acid sequence is replaced with another amino acid residue, and the mutant glucose dehydrogenase shows an improved substrate specificity to glucose. (2) The mutant glucose dehydrogenase according to (1), which has the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3 except for a position corresponding to the 365th position. (3) The mutant glucose dehydrogenase according to (1) or (2), which shows a reduced reactivity to a disaccharide compared with a glucose dehydrogenase having a wild type amino acid residue at a position corresponding to the 365th position. (4) The mutant glucose dehydrogenase according to (3), wherein the disaccharide is maltose. (5) The mutant glucose dehydrogenase according to (4), which shows a reactivity to maltose in a degree of 20% or less of reactivity to glucose. (6) The mutant glucose dehydrogenase according to any one of (1) to (5), wherein the other amino acid residue is an amino acid residue selected from phenylalanine, tyrosine, tryptophan and histidine residues. (7) The mutant glucose dehydrogenase according to any one of (1) to (6), wherein amino acid residue or residues corresponding to at least one position selected from the 324th, 326th, 333rd, 334th, 368th, 369th, 376th, 377th, 418th, 419th, 436th, 433rd, 448th, 472nd, 475th, 525th and 529th positions in the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3 are replaced with another or other amino acid residues. (8) The mutant glucose dehydrogenase according to (7), wherein the position consists of at least one position selected from the 326th, 472nd, 475th and 529th positions. (9) The mutant glucose dehydrogenase according to (8), wherein the position is the 472nd position. (10) The mutant glucose dehydrogenase according to (8), wherein the position is the 475th position. (11) The mutant glucose dehydrogenase according to (8), wherein the position consists of both the 472nd position and the 475th position. (12) The mutant glucose dehydrogenase according to (8), wherein the position is the 326th position. (13) The mutant glucose dehydrogenase according to (8), wherein the position is the 529th position. (14) The mutant glucose dehydrogenase according to (9), wherein an amino acid residue at a position corresponding to the 472nd position is replaced with an amino acid residue selected from aspartic acid, glutamic acid, phenylalanine, tyrosine, isoleucine, asparagine and histidine residues. (15) The mutant glucose dehydrogenase according to (10), wherein an amino acid residue at a position corresponding to the 475th position is replaced with histidine or serine residue. (16) The mutant glucose dehydrogenase according to (12), wherein an amino acid residue corresponding to the 326th serine is replaced with glutamine or valine residue. (17) The mutant glucose dehydrogenase according to (13), wherein an amino acid residue corresponding to the 529th leucine is replaced with tyrosine, histidine or tryptophan residue. (18) A mutant glucose dehydrogenase having the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3 or an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3 including substitution, deletion, insertion or addition of one or more amino acid residues and having glucose dehydrogenase activity, which includes

(i) substitution of other amino acid residue or residues for a residue or residues at a position or positions corresponding to at least one position selected from the 324th, 326th, 333rd, 334th, 365th, 368th, 369th, 376th, 377th, 418th, 419th, 436th, 433rd, 448th, 525th and 529th positions in the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3,

(ii) substitution of aspartic acid residue for an amino acid residue at a position corresponding to the 472nd position, and

(iii) substitution of histidine residue for an amino acid residue at a position corresponding to the 475th position, and shows improved substrate specificity to glucose.

(19) The mutant glucose dehydrogenase according to (18), wherein the other amino acid residue or residues are selected from phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan residues. (20) The mutant glucose dehydrogenase according to (18), wherein the position is the 326th position, and an amino acid residue at a position corresponding to the position is replaced with glutamine or valine residue. (21) The mutant glucose dehydrogenase according to (18), wherein the position is the 529th position, and an amino acid residue at a position corresponding to the position is replaced with tyrosine, histidine or tryptophan residue. (22) An FAD-binding type mutant glucose dehydrogenase containing the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 7. (23) A mutant glucose dehydrogenase complex containing at least the mutant glucose dehydrogenase according to any one of (1) to (22) and an electron transfer subunit. (24) The glucose dehydrogenase complex according to (23), wherein the electron transfer subunit is cytochrome C. (25) A DNA coding for the mutant glucose dehydrogenase according to any one of (1) to (22). (26) A microorganism harboring the DNA according to (25) and producing the mutant glucose dehydrogenase according to any one of (1) to (22) or the mutant glucose dehydrogenase complex according to (23). (27) A glucose assay kit comprising the mutant glucose dehydrogenase according to (1) to (22), the mutant glucose dehydrogenase complex according to (23), or the microorganism according to (26). (28) A glucose sensor comprising the mutant glucose dehydrogenase according to (1) to (22), the mutant glucose dehydrogenase complex according to (23), or the microorganism according to (26).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows structure of a glucose sensor.

FIG. 2 shows reagent parts of a glucose sensor.

FIG. 3 shows a graph representing reactivity of a glucose sensor using a mutant GDH for glucose.

FIG. 4 shows a graph representing reactivity of a glucose sensor using a mutant GDH for maltose in the presence of glucose.

FIG. 5 shows a graph showing apparent blood sugar levels measured by using glucose sensors using a wild type GDH or a mutant GDH.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereafter, the present invention will be explained in detail.

The mutant GDH of the present invention is produced by introducing a specific mutation into a wild type GDH.

Examples of the wild type GDH include GDHs produced by Burkholderia cepacia. Examples of the GDHs produced by Burkholderia cepacia include GDHs produced by the Burkholderia cepacia KS1, JCM2800 and JCM2801 strains. The KS1 strain was deposited at the independent administrative corporation, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, International Patent Organism Depositary (Tsukuba Central 6, 1-1, Higashi 1-Chome, Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki-ken, 305-8566, Japan) on Sep. 25, 2000 and given an accession number FERM BP-7306. The JCM2800 and JCM2801 strains are stored at the independent administrative corporation, RIKEN, Bioresource Center, Japan Collection of Microorganisms (JCM).

The nucleotide sequence of a chromosomal DNA fragment containing the GDH α-subunit gene and a part of the β-subunit gene of the KS1 strain is shown in SEQ ID NO: 1 (U.S. Patent Application No. 2004/0023330). Three open reading frames (ORF) exist in this nucleotide sequence, the second and third ORFs from the 5′ end side code for the α-subunit (SEQ ID NO: 3) and the 1-subunit (SEQ ID NO: 4), respectively. Further, it is inferred that the first ORF codes for the γ-subunit (SEQ ID NO: 2). Further, the nucleotide sequence of a fragment containing the full-length β-subunit gene is shown in SEQ ID NO: 5. Further, the amino acid sequence of the β-subunit is shown in SEQ ID NO: 6 (EP1498484A). It is inferred that the amino acid numbers 1 to 22 in SEQ ID NO: 6 correspond to a signal peptide. Although the first amino acid residues are Val in SEQ ID NOS: 5 and 6, they are very likely to be Met and may be eliminated after translation.

The mutant GDH of the present invention may consist of the α-subunit alone, a complex comprising the α-subunit and the β-subunit, or a complex comprising the α-subunit, β-subunit and γ-subunit. The mutant GDH of the present invention is obtained by introducing a specific mutation into the α-subunit in any case, and may have a conservative mutation in addition to the above specific mutation. Further, the other subunits may be of a wild type or have a conservative mutation. The term “conservative mutation” means a mutation that does not substantially affect the GDH activity.

The mutant α-subunit of the present invention preferably has the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 13 except that it includes the specific mutation described later. Further, the mutant α-subunit may have the aforementioned conservative mutation so long as it has the GDH activity. That is, it may be a protein having an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 13 including substitution, deletion, insertion or addition of one or more amino acid residues in addition to the aforementioned specific mutation. SEQ ID NO: 13 shows an amino acid sequence that can be encoded by the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 11. However, the methionine residue at the N-terminus may be eliminated after translation. The aforementioned term “one or several” preferably means a number of 1 to 10, more preferably 1 to 5, particularly preferably 1 to 3.

Further, the β-subunit typically has the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 16. However, so long as it functions as the β-subunit of GDH, it may be a protein having an amino acid sequence of the amino acid numbers 23 to 425 of SEQ ID NO: 16 including substitution, deletion, insertion or addition of one or more amino acid residues. The aforementioned term “one or several” preferably means a number of 1 to 20, more preferably 1 to 10, particularly preferably 1 to 5. The expression “functions as the GDH β-subunit” means to function as cytochrome C without degrading the enzymatic activity of GDH.

Specific examples of the wild type α-subunit gene include a DNA containing the nucleotide sequence corresponding to the nucleotide numbers 764 to 2380 of SEQ ID NO: 11. Further, the α-subunit gene may be a DNA having the nucleotide sequence corresponding to the nucleotide numbers 764 to 2380 in the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 11 or a DNA which is hybridizable with a probe prepared from that sequence under a stringent condition and codes for a protein having the GDH activity.

Further, specific examples of the β-subunit gene include a DNA having the nucleotide sequence corresponding to the nucleotide numbers 187 to 1398 of SEQ ID NO: 9. Further, the β-subunit gene may be a DNA which has the nucleotide sequence corresponding to the nucleotide numbers 187 to 1398 of SEQ ID NO: 9, or a DNA which is hybridizable with a probe prepared from that sequence under a stringent condition and codes for a protein that can function as the β-subunit.

Examples of the aforementioned stringent condition include, for example, a condition under which DNAs having a homology of 70% or more, preferably 80% or more, more preferably 90% or more, particularly preferably 95% or more, hybridize with each other, and it is specifically exemplified by the condition of 1×SSC, 0.1% SDS at 60° C.

The α-subunit gene and the β-subunit gene can be obtained by, for example, PCR using chromosomal DNA of the Burkhorderia cepacia KS1 strain as a template. Primers for PCR can be prepared by chemical synthesis on the basis of the aforementioned nucleotide sequences. Further, they can also be obtained from chromosomal DNA of the Burkhorderia cepacia KS1 strain by hybridization using an oligonucleotide prepared on the basis of the aforementioned sequences as a probe. Further, variants thereof can also be similarly obtained from other strains of Burkhorderia cepacia. Examples of the other bacterial strains include the aforementioned JCM2800 and JCM2801 strains. The α-subunits of GDHs produced by these strains have homologies of 95.4 and 93.7%, respectively, to the α-subunit of the KS1 strain.

Further, GDHs produced by other microorganisms may also be used to prepare the mutant GDH of the present invention, so long as GDH having a structure and enzymatic characteristics similar to those of Burkhorderia cepacia GDH is chosen. Examples of such GDH include GDHs derived from (i) Burkholderia pseudomallei, (ii) Burkholderia mallei, and (iii) Ralstonia solanacearum ((i) and (ii): Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 101 (39), 14240-14245 (2004), (iii): Nature 415 (6871), 497-502 (2002)).

The mutant GDH of the present invention shows improved substrate specificity to glucose, because it is obtained by adding the specific mutation to such a wild type GDH or GDH having a conservative mutation as described above. The “improved substrate specificity to glucose” include reduced reactivity to other monosaccharides, disaccharides and oligosaccharides such as maltose, galactose and xylose with the substantially same reactivity to glucose, and improved reactivity to glucose compared with reactivities to other saccharides. For example, even if the reactivity to glucose is reduced, if the reactivities to other saccharides are reduced in larger degrees, the substrate specificity for glucose is improved. Moreover, even if the reactivities to other saccharides are increased, if the substrate specificity to glucose is increased in a larger degree, the substrate specificity to glucose is improved. Specifically, for example, if improvement of the substrate specificity of the mutant enzyme relative to that of a wild type enzyme (the substrate specificity is a ratio of specific activity for saccharide other than glucose such as maltose to specific activity for glucose, and the improvement is represented by the following equation) is 10% or more, preferably 20% or more, more preferably 40% or more, the substrate specificity shall be improved. For example, if the substrate specificity of a wild type enzyme is 60%, and the substrate specificity of a mutant GDH is 40%, the reactivity to other saccharides other than glucose is reduced by 33%.

Substrate specificity=(Specific activity for saccharides other than glucose/Specific activity for glucose)×100

Improvement of substrate specificity=(A−B)×100/A A: Substrate specificity of wild type enzyme B: Substrate specificity of mutant enzyme

Further, the reactivity (specific activity) for maltose of the mutant GDH is preferably 30% or less, more preferably 20% or less, of the reactivity (specific activity) for glucose.

Specific examples of the specific mutation include the followings.

(1) Substitution of another amino acid residue for the amino acid residue at a position corresponding to the 365th position of the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3 (2) Substitution of another amino acid residue for the amino acid residue at a position corresponding to the 365th position of the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3, and substitution of another or other amino acid residues for at least one or arbitrary two or more amino acid residues at position or positions corresponding to the 324th, 326th, 333rd, 334th, 368th, 369th, 376th, 377th, 418th, 419th, 436th, 433rd, 448th, 472nd, 475th, 525th and 529th positions in the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3 (3) (i) Substitution of another or other amino acid residues for amino acid residue or residues at a position or positions corresponding to at least one or arbitrary two or more positions selected from the 324th, 326th, 333rd, 334th, 365th, 368th, 369th, 376th, 377th, 418th, 419th, 436th, 433rd, 448th, 525th and 529th positions in the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3, (ii) substitution of another amino acid residue for an amino acid residue at a position corresponding to the 472nd position, and (iii) substitution of another amino acid residue for an amino acid residue at a position corresponding to the 475th position.

Examples of the aforementioned specific mutation further include such a mutation that the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 7 should be contained in the amino acid sequence of GDH. The amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 7 corresponds to the sequence of the 360th position to the 366th position in GDH of SEQ ID NO: 3. It is considered that even if the GDH is an FAD-binding type GDH other than that of Burkhorderia cepacia, substrate specificity of a mutant GDH containing the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 7 should be improved, if a corresponding wild type GDH does not contain the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 7.

Examples of the other amino acid residue mentioned in the above mutation (1) include those of amino acids other than serine, specifically, phenylalanine, tyrosine, aspartic acid, histidine, arginine, tryptophan, lysine, asparagine, leucine, cysteine, threonine, isoleucine, glycine, valine, methionine, glutamine, glutamic acid, alanine and proline. Among these, residues of phenylalanine, tyrosine, tryptophan and histidine are preferred.

Examples of the other amino acid residue or residues mentioned in the above mutation (2) include amino acid residues other than the amino acid residues at those positions of a wild type GDH. Among the aforementioned positions of the amino acid substitution, the 326th position, the 472nd position, the 475th position, and the 529th position are preferred, and the 472nd position and the 475th position are more preferred. Although the amino acid residues at positions corresponding to the 472nd position and the 475th position may be independently replaced, it is more preferred that both are replaced.

The amino acid residue after the substitution at the 472nd position is preferably aspartic acid, glutamic acid, phenylalanine, tyrosine, isoleucine, asparagine or histidine residue, particularly preferably aspartic acid residue.

The amino acid residue after the substitution at the 475th position is preferably histidine or serine residue, particularly preferably histidine residue.

The amino acid residue after the substitution at the 326th position is preferably glutamine or valine residue.

The amino acid residue after the substitution at the 529th position is preferably tyrosine, histidine or tryptophan residue.

Preferred embodiments of the mutation (3) mentioned above are similar to those mentioned above.

The positions of the aforementioned amino acid substitution mutations are those in SEQ ID NO: 3, that is, the amino acid sequence of the wild type GDH α-subunit of the Burkholderia cepacia KS1 strain, and in a GDH α-subunit homologue or variant having an amino acid sequence including substitution, deletion, insertion or addition of one or more amino acid residues in the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3 in addition to the aforementioned specific mutations, the positions are those corresponding to the positions of the aforementioned amino acid substitutions determined by alignment with the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3. For example, in a conservative GDH α-subunit variant having deletion of one amino acid residue in the region of 1st to 364th positions, the 365th position represents the 364th position in the variant.

Preferred embodiments of the mutation in the mutant GDH of the present invention are shown below (numerals represent positions in the amino acid sequence, the amino acid residues represent amino acid residues after the substitution at the positions, and “+” means that two amino acid substitutions are simultaneously included).

(A) 365Arg, 365Asn, 365Asp, 365Cys, 365Glu, 365Gly, 365His, 365Ile, 365Leu, 365Met, 365Phe, 365Pro, 365Trp, 365Tyr, 365Val, 365Lys, 365Gln, 365Thr, 365Ala (B) 326Gln, 326Val, 326Arg (C) 529His, 529Tyr, 529Trp

(D) 365Tyr+326Gln, 365Tyr+326Val, 365Tyr+326Arg, 365Tyr+472Phe, 365Tyr+472Ile, 365Tyr+472Asn, 365Tyr+472Asp, 365Tyr+472H is, 365Tyr+472Leu, 365Tyr+472Ser, 365Tyr+475Ser, 365Tyr+475His, 365Phe+472Phe (E) 472Asp+475His+365Phe, 472Asp+475His+326Gln, 472Asp+475His+326Thr, 472Asp+475His+326Val, 472Asp+475His+529Trp, 472Asp+475His+529His, 472Asp+475His+529Tyr, 472Tyr+475His+365Phe, 472Tyr+475His+365His, 472Tyr+475His+326Val, 472Ile+475His+326Gln

(F) 472Asp+475His+529His+326Gln, 472Asp+475His+529Trp+326Gln

The inventors of the present invention compared the amino acid sequences of the GMC oxidoreductase family enzymes using FAD as a coenzyme, sorbitol dehydrogenase of Gluconobacter oxydans (GenBank accession AB039821), 2-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase of Erwinia herbicola (GenBank accession AF068066), cellobiose dehydrogenase (CDH) of Phanerochaete chrysosporium (J. Mol. Biol., 315(3), 421-34 (2002)), cholesterol oxidase (COD) of Streptomyces species (J. Struct. Biol. 116(2), 317-9 (1996)), and glucose oxidase of Penicillium amagasakiens (Eur. J. Biochem. 252, 90-99 (1998)), and found a region in which the FAD-binding domain and FAD-covering lid were conserved and a region in which proline was conserved, which is an amino acid residue involved in folding of proteins. Then, they examined the possibility of improving substrate specificity by modifying sequences in the vicinity of the borders between these regions and other regions. Specifically, R53 to H73, E88 to A108, N308 to G336, K362 to A377, A391 to R497, and S509 to V539 were examined. As a result, they found some positions enabling improvement of the substrate specificity in the aforementioned regions.

A GDH α-subunit having a desired mutation can be obtained by introducing a nucleotide mutation corresponding to a desired amino acid mutation into a DNA coding for the GDH α-subunit (α-subunit gene) by site-directed mutagenesis and expressing the obtained mutant DNA by using a suitable expression system. Further, a mutant GDH complex can be obtained by expressing a DNA coding for the mutant GDH α-subunit together with a DNA coding for the β-subunit (β-subunit gene) or the β-subunit gene and a DNA coding for the γ-subunit (γ-subunit gene).

For the introduction of a mutation into a DNA coding for the GDH α-subunit, a polycistronic DNA fragment coding for the GDH α-subunit, γ-subunit and β-subunit in this order may also be used.

Substrate specificities to sugars of the GDH α-subunit or the GDH complex introduced with the mutation can be determined by examining reactivities to various sugars by the methods described in the examples and comparing them with reactivities of a wild type GDH α-subunit or a wild type GDH complex.

A polycistronic DNA fragment coding for the γ-subunit, α-subunit and β-subunit in this order can be obtained by, for example, PCR using chromosomal DNA of the Burkhorderia cepacia KS1 strain as a template and oligonucleotides having the nucleotide sequences of SEQ ID NOS: 8 and 9 as primers (see the examples described later).

Examples of vectors used for obtaining the genes of GDH subunits, introduction of mutation, expression of the genes and so forth include vectors that function in Escherichia bacteria, and specific examples thereof include pTrc99A, pBR322, pUC18, pUC118, pUC19, pUC119, pACYC184, pBBR122 and so forth. Examples of the promoters used for expression of genes include lac, trp, tac, trc, P_(L), tet, PhoA and so forth. Further, insertion of these genes into a vector and ligation of a promoter can be performed in one step by inserting the α-subunit gene or other subunit genes at a suitable site in an expression vector containing the promoter. Examples of such an expression vector include pTrc99A, pBluescript, pKK223-3 and so forth.

Further, the α-subunit gene or other subunit genes may be incorporated into chromosomal DNA of a host microorganism in an expressible form.

Examples of the method for transforming a microorganism with a recombinant vector include, for example, the competent cell method using a calcium treatment, protoplast method, electroporation and so forth.

Examples of the host microorganism include Bacillus bacteria such as Bacillus subtilits, yeast such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae and filamentous fungi such as Aspergillus niger. However, the host microorganism is not limited to these examples, and host microorganisms suitable for producing foreign proteins can be used.

The mutant α-subunit, the mutant GDH complex, and the microorganism expressing them of the present invention can be used as an enzyme electrode of a glucose sensor or a component of a glucose assay kit. A glucose sensor and glucose assay kit using the wild type GDH of Burkhorderia cepacia are described in U.S. Patent No. 2004/0023330A1. The mutant GDH of the present invention can also be used in a similar manner.

EXAMPLES

Hereafter, the present invention will be explained more specifically with reference to examples. However, the present invention is not limited to these examples.

Example 1 Plasmids Expressing GDH of Burkhorderia cepacia

As plasmids expressing GDH of Burkhorderia cepacia, a plasmid expressing the GDH α-subunit and γ-subunit and a plasmid expressing the α-subunit, β-subunit and γ-subunit were prepared.

<1> Plasmid Expressing GDH α-Subunit and γ-Subunit

As a plasmid expressing the α-subunit and γ-subunit, plasmid pTrc99A/γ+α described in WO02/036779 (corresponding to EP1331272A1, US2004023330A1 CN1484703A) was used. This plasmid is a plasmid obtained by inserting a DNA fragment sequentially containing the GDH γ-subunit structural gene and the α-subunit structural gene isolated from chromosomal DNA of the Burkhorderia cepacia KS1 strain (FERM BP-7306) into the vector pTrc99A (Pharmacia) at the NcoI/HindIII site as a cloning site thereof. The GDHγα gene in this plasmid is regulated by the trc promoter. pTrc99A/γ+α has an ampicillin resistance gene.

<2> Plasmid Expressing GDH α-Subunit, β-Subunit and γ-Subunit

A plasmid expressing the GDH α-subunit, β-subunit and γ-subunit was prepared as follows.

(1) Preparation of Chromosomal DNA from Burkhorderia cepacia KS1 Strain

A chromosomal gene was prepared from the Burkhorderia cepacia KS1 strain in a conventional manner. That is, the TL liquid medium (10 g of polypeptone, 1 g of yeast extract, 5 g of NaCl, 2 g of KH₂PO₄, 5 g of glucose in 1 L, pH 7.2) was used, and cells of the strain was shaken overnight in the medium at 34° C. The grown cells were collected by centrifugation. The cells were suspended in a solution containing 10 mM NaCl, 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.0), 1 mM EDTA, 0.5% SDS and 100 μg/ml of proteinase K and treated at 50° C. for 6 hours. To the mixture was added an equal volume of phenol-chloroform, and the mixture was stirred at room temperature for 10 minutes. Then, the supernatant was collected by centrifugation. To the supernatant was added sodium acetate at a final concentration of 0.3 M, and 2-fold volume of ethanol was overlaid to precipitate chromosomal DNA in the intermediate layer. The DNA was collected with a glass rod, washed with 70% ethanol, and then dissolved in a suitable volume of TE buffer to obtain a chromosomal DNA solution.

(2) Preparation of DNA Fragment Coding for GDH γ-Subunit, α-Subunit and β-Subunit

A DNA fragment coding for the GDH γ-subunit, α-subunit and β-subunit was amplified by PCR using the aforementioned chromosomal DNA as a template and oligonucleotides having the following sequences as primers.

[Forward Primer] 5′-CATGCCATGGCACACAACGACAACAC-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 8) [Reverse Primer] 5′-GTCGACGATCTTCTTCCAGCCGAACATCAC-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 9)

The C-terminus side of the amplified fragment was blunt-ended, the N-terminus side was digested with NcoI, and the fragment was ligated to similarly treated pTrc99A (Pharmacia). E. coli DH5a was transformed with the obtained recombinant vector, and colonies grown on the LB agar medium containing 50 μg/mL of ampicillin were collected. The obtained transformants were cultured in the liquid LB medium, plasmids were extracted, and DNA fragments inserted in the plasmids were analyzed. As a result, an inserted fragment of about 3.8 kb was confirmed. This plasmid was designated as pTrc99Aγαβ. The structural genes of GDH in this plasmid are regulated by the trc promoter. pTrc99Aγαβ has an ampicillin resistance gene and a kanamycin resistance gene.

Example 2 Search of Substrate Interaction Site of GDH α-Subunit by Mutagenesis in GDH α-Subunit (1) Mutagenesis at 472nd Position and 475th Position

The GDH α-subunit gene contained in pTrc99Aγαβ obtained in Example 1 was mutagenized so that histidine residue and asparagine residue should substitute for the 472th alanine residue and the 475th aspartic acid residue in the α-subunit encoded by the gene, respectively. This mutant is called 472D+475H mutant. It had already been confirmed by the inventors of the present invention that the substrate characteristics were improved by such mutation.

Specifically, a commercially available site-directed mutagenesis kit (Stratagene, QuikChangeII Site-Directed Mutagenesis Kit) was used to substitute codon of aspartic acid (GAT) or glutamic acid (GAA) for the codon of 475th asparagine (AAT) in the GDH α-subunit gene contained in the plasmids pTrc99A/γ+α and pTrc99Aγαβ described in Example 1. The following oligonucleotides were used as primers.

[Primer for introducing A472D mutation] Forward primer: SEQ ID NO: 224 5′-CGTGTTCAACGACGAATTCGATCCGAACAATCACATCACGG-3′ Reverse primer: SEQ ID NO: 225 5′-CCGTGATGTGATTGTTCGGATCGAATTCGTCGTTGAACACG-3′ [Primer for introducing N475H mutation] Forward primer: SEQ ID NO: 226 5′-AATTCGCGCCGAACCACCACATCACGGGCTC-3′ Reverse primer: SEQ ID NO: 227 5′-GAGCCCGTGATGTGGTGGTTCGGCGCGAATT-3′

(2) Mutagenesis at Position Other Than 472nd Position and 475th Position

The mutant gene coding for the 472D+475H mutant obtained above was used to attain substitution of phenylalanine residue for amino acid residues in the regions shown below. However, amino acid substitution was not performed for the positions for which the wild type had phenylalanine residue as the amino acid residue. The numerals used below indicate positions in the amino acid sequence, and the alphabets before the numerals indicate kinds of amino acids. For example, R53 represents arginine at the 53rd position.

(i) R53 to H73 (ii) E88 to A108

(iii) N₃₀₈ to G336

(iv) K362 to A377 (v) A391 to R497 (vi) S509 to V539

As the α-subunit gene as a target of the mutagenesis, the 472D+475H mutant for which substrate characteristic improving effect was already confirmed was used aiming at obtaining synergistic effect by the combination of mutations.

The sequences of the forward primers used for the aforementioned amino acid residue substitution are shown below. Completely complementary strands of the forward primers were used as the sequences of the reverse primers.

In the notations of mutations, the numerals indicate positions in the amino acid sequence, the alphabets before the numerals indicate kinds of amino acids before the amino acid substitution, and the alphabets after the numerals indicate amino acid residues after the amino acid substitution. For example, R53F represents substitution of phenylalanine for arginine at the 53rd position.

PCR was performed by using the following reaction composition. After a reaction at 95° C. for 30 seconds, a cycle of reactions at 95° C. for 30 seconds, 55° C. for 1 minute and 68° C. for 8 minutes was repeated 15 times. Then, after a reaction at 68° C. for 30 minutes, the reaction mixture was maintained at 4° C.

[Composition of reaction mixture] Template DNA (5 ng/μl)   2 μl (472D + 475H introduced pTrc99A/γ + α and pTrc99Aγαβ) 10 × Reaction buffer   5 μl Forward primer (100 ng/μl) 1.25 μl Reverse primer (100 ng/μl) 1.25 μl dNTP   1 μl Distilled water 38.5 μl DNA polymerase   1 μl Total   50 μl

After PCR, 0.5 μl of DNA polymerase I was added to the reaction mixture, and the mixture was incubated at 37° C. for 1 hour to decompose the template plasmid.

Competent cells of Escherichia coli DH5α (supE44, ΔlacU169 (φ80lacZΔM15), hsdR17, recAi, endA1, gyrA96, thi-1, relA1) were transformed with the obtained reaction mixture. Plasmids DNA were prepared from several colonies grown on the LB agar medium (1% Bacto tryptone, 0.5% yeast extract, 1% sodium chloride, 1.5% agar) containing ampicillin (50 μg/ml) and kanamycin (30 μg/ml), and sequence analysis was performed to confirm that the objective mutations had been introduced into the GDH α-subunit gene.

TABLE 1 Primers for substitution in R53-H73 region Amino acid substitution SEQ ID NO R53F 10 N54F 11 Q55F 12 P56F 13 D57F 14 K58F 15 M59F 16 D60F 17 M62F 18 A63F 19 P64F 20 Y65F 21 P66F 22 S67F 23 S68F 24 P69F 25 W70F 26 A71F 27 P72F 28 H73F 29

TABLE 2 Primers for substitution in E88-A108 region Amino acid substitution SEQ ID NO E88F 30 H89F 31 K90F 32 N92F 33 S93F 34 Q94F 35 Y95F 36 I96F 37 R97F 38 A98F 39 V99F 40 G100F 41 G101F 42 T102F 43 T103F 44 W104F 45 H105F 46 W106F 47 A107F 48 A108F 49

TABLE 3 Primers for substitution in N308-G336 region Amino acid substitution SEQ ID NO N308F 50 S309F 51 S310F 52 D311F 53 M312F 54 V313F 55 G314F 56 R315F 57 N316F 58 L317F 59 M318F 60 D319F 61 H320F 62 P321F 63 G322F 64 T323F 65 G324F 66 V325F 67 S326F 68 Y328F 69 A329F 70 S330F 71 E331F 72 K332F 73 L333F 74 W334F 75 P335F 76 G336F 77

TABLE 4 Primers for substitution in K362-I377 region Amino acid substitution SEQ ID NO I362F 78 H363F 79 L364F 80 S365F 81 N366F 82 L367F 83 S368F 84 R369F 85 I370F 86 D371F 87 Q372F 88 E373F 89 T374F 90 Q375F 91 K376F 92 I377F 93

TABLE 5 Primers for substitution in A391-Y453 region Amino acid substitution SEQ ID NO A391F 94 Q392F 95 I393F 96 R394F 97 D395F 98 R396F 99 S397F 100 A398F 101 R399F 102 Y400F 103 V401F 104 Q402F 105 D404F 106 C405F 107 H407F 108 E408F 109 I409F 110 L410F 111 P413F 112 E414F 113 N415F 114 R416F 115 I417F 116 V418F 117 P419F 118 S420F 119 K421F 120 T422F 121 A423F 122 T424F 123 D425F 124 A426F 125 I427F 126 G428F 127 I429F 128 P430F 129 R431F 130 P432F 131 E433F 132 I434F 133 T435F 134 Y436F 135 A437F 136 I438F 137 D439F 138 D440F 139 Y441F 140 V442F 141 K443F 142 R444F 143 G445F 144 A446F 145 A447F 146 H448F 147 T449F 148 R450F 149 E451F 150 V452F 151 Y453F 152

TABLE 6 Primers for substitution in I477-R497 region Amino acid substitution SEQ ID NO I477F 153 T478F 154 G479F 155 S480F 156 T481F 157 I482F 158 M483F 159 G484F 160 A485F 161 D486F 162 A487F 163 R488F 164 D489F 165 S490F 166 V491F 167 V492F 168 D493F 169 K494F 170 D495F 171 C496F 172 R497F 173

TABLE 7 Primers for substitution in S509-V539 region Amino acid substitution SEQ ID NO S509F 174 A510F 175 T511F 176 M512F 177 P513F 178 T514F 179 V515F 180 G516F 181 T517F 182 V518F 183 N519F 184 V520F 185 T521F 186 L522F 187 T523F 188 I524F 189 A525F 190 A526F 191 L527F 192 A528F 193 L529F 194 R530F 195 M531F 196 S532F 197 D533F 198 T534F 299 L535F 200 K536F 201 K537F 202 E538F 203 V539F 204

Example 3 Analysis of Substrate Specificity of Mutant GDHs

Mutant GDHs were produced by using the mutant GDH expressing plasmids obtained in Example 2, and substrate specificities thereof were examined.

(1) Culture

Each of strains of Escherichia coli DH5α introduced with each mutation was cultured overnight at 37° C. in 2 ml of the LB medium (containing 50 μg/ml of ampicillin and 30 μg/ml of kanamycin) in an L-shaped tube with shaking. These culture broths were each inoculated into 150 ml of the LB medium (containing 50 μg/ml of ampicillin and 30 μg/ml of kanamycin) contained in a 500-ml Sakaguchi flask, and the cells were cultured at 37° C. with shaking. After 3 hours from the start of culture, isopropyl-β-D-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG) was added at a final concentration of 0.1 mM, and the cells were further cultured for 2 hours.

(2) Preparation of Crude Enzyme Samples

The cells were collected from each culture broth obtained as described above, washed, then suspended in 10 mM potassium phosphate buffer (PPB, pH 7.0) containing 1 ml of 0.2% Triton X-100 per 0.3 mg of wet cells, and disrupted by ultrasonication. This suspension was centrifuged (10000 rpm, 10 min, 4° C.) to remove the residues, then the supernatant was ultracentrifuged (50,000 r.p.m., 60 min, 4° C.), and the obtained supernatant (water-soluble fraction) was used as a crude enzyme sample. Further, this sample was purified by usual hydrophobic chromatography (column: Octyl Sepharose, Amersham Biosciences) and ion exchange chromatography (Q-Sepharose, Amersham Biosciences) to obtain a purified enzyme sample. The objective enzyme fraction was determined by using GDH activity as an index.

(3) Measurement of GDH Activity

To 8 μl of the aforementioned purified enzyme sample was added 8 μl of a reagent for measuring activity (solution obtained by adding 10 mM PPB containing 0.2% (w/v) Triton X-100 to 12 μl of 600 mM methylphenazine methosulfate (PMS) and 120 μl of 6 mM 2,6-dichrolophenol-indophenol (DCIP) to make a total volume of 480 μl). This mixture was preincubated at each reaction temperature for one minute by using an aluminum block thermostatic chamber, then 8 μl of a substrate (glucose or maltose) at each concentration or distilled water was quickly added to the mixture, and the mixture was stirred. Absorbance at 600 nm as the DCIP-originated absorption wavelength was measured by using a spectrophotometer. The final concentrations of the reagents, DCIP and PMS, were 0.06 and 0.6 mM, respectively. The final concentration of the substrate was 5 mM.

The results are shown in Tables 8 to 14. The reaction ratio of the wild type GDH was 48%.

TABLE 8 U/ml Reaction (culture medium) ratio Enzyme Glucose Maltose Mal/Glu A472D + N475H 2.02 0.28 13.8% R53F 3.34 0.42 12.6% N54F 2.19 0.32 14.4% Q55F 1.95 0.24 12.4% P56F 2.28 0.37 16.4% D57F 2.85 0.42 14.9% K58F 1.57 0.20 12.8% M59F 1.94 0.29 14.8% D60F 2.62 0.36 13.9% M62F 0.85 0.16 19.2% A63F 0.66 0.12 18.6% P64F 1.79 0.30 16.9% Y65F 0.29 0.16 54.0% P66F 0.12 0.12 100.0% S67F 0.70 0.20 28.0% S68F 2.23 0.26 11.6% P69F 0.60 0.09 15.1% W70F 2.64 0.32 12.2% A71F 2.90 0.31 10.7% P72F 0.05 0.06 112.7% H73F 3.25 0.39 12.1%

TABLE 9 U/ml Reaction (culture medium) ratio Enzyme Glucose Maltose Mal/Glu E88F 1.14 0.16 16.6% H89F 1.83 0.28 17.1% K90F 1.19 0.14 14.6% N92F 1.11 0.17 18.4% S93F 2.47 0.38 16.7% Q94F 1.16 0.14 15.0% Y95F 1.89 0.20 12.5% I96F 0.53 0.06 17.7% R97F 0.73 0.10 17.6% A98F 2.47 0.24 11.0% V99F 0.40 0.04 17.4% G100F 0.07 0.02 50.5% G101F −0.02 −0.01 108.3% T102F −0.02 −0.02 126.7% T103F −0.03 −0.01 203.0% W104F 0.52 0.04 14.4% H105F 0.01 0.01 112.7% W106F 0.29 0.03 20.4% A107F 0.52 0.03 12.4% A108F 0.00 0.00 104.1%

TABLE 10 U/ml Reaction (culture medium) ratio Enzyme Glucose Maltose Mal/Glu N308F 0.03 0.04 104.7% S309F 0.03 0.03 94.4% S310F 0.04 0.06 144.8% D311F 0.76 0.08 10.3% M312F 0.19 0.07 35.4% V313F 0.04 0.04 103.8% G314F 0.15 0.08 50.6% R315F 0.01 0.01 89.5% N316F 0.16 0.07 44.4% L317F 0.10 0.07 70.4% M318F 0.04 0.01 26.6% D319F 0.03 0.02 53.8% H320F 1.30 0.23 17.9% P321F 2.43 0.40 16.6% G322F 0.04 0.04 98.9% T323F 0.62 0.10 16.5% G324F 3.34 0.20 6.0% V325F 0.08 0.09 114.1% S326F 2.45 0.17 6.7% Y328F 0.03 0.03 97.2% A329F 0.69 0.09 12.4% S330F 0.39 0.07 17.3% E331F 1.86 0.17 9.4% K332F 0.81 0.10 12.8% L333F 3.05 0.26 8.4% W334F 4.18 0.29 7.0% P335F 0.10 0.02 22.4% G336F 0.02 0.00 0.5%

TABLE 11 U/ml Reaction (culture medium) ratio Enzyme Glucose Maltose Mal/Glu I362F 0.11 0.10 88.2% H363F 0.47 0.10 20.4% L364F 3.30 0.33 10.1% S365F 2.89 0.04 1.2% N366F 0.04 0.03 75.8% L367F 4.30 0.44 10.2% S368F 3.88 0.25 6.4% R369F 3.58 0.25 7.1% I370F 1.30 0.12 8.9% D371F 2.73 0.35 12.9% Q372F 3.98 0.36 8.9% E373F 1.60 0.21 12.9% T374F 1.91 0.18 9.4% Q375F 3.59 0.39 10.8% K376F 2.83 0.20 6.9% I377F 3.05 0.23 7.6%

TABLE 12 U/ml Reaction (culture medium) ratio Enzyme Glucose Maltose Mal/Glu A391F 2.07 0.22 10.9% Q392F 2.21 0.22 10.2% I393F 1.76 0.19 11.1% R394F 0.73 0.13 17.4% D395F 1.39 0.17 12.0% R396F 1.20 0.14 11.9% S397F 0.75 0.08 10.8% A398F 2.11 0.22 10.3% R399F 1.98 0.20 10.1% Y400F 2.35 0.24 10.0% V401F 0.57 0.11 19.2% Q402F 0.58 0.07 12.3% D404F 0.28 0.08 29.2% C405F 0.06 0.06 104.9% H407F 0.08 0.06 67.3% E408F 0.08 0.08 97.0% I409F 0.16 0.04 25.0% L410F 0.08 0.07 85.7% P413F 0.05 0.04 72.9% E414F 1.22 0.15 12.6% N415F 0.03 0.04 119.5% R416F 0.18 0.03 17.1% I417F 0.05 0.05 86.6% V418F 2.66 0.19 7.3% P419F 1.74 0.10 5.7% S420F 0.45 0.04 8.5% K421F 0.42 0.06 15.0% T422F 1.98 0.18 9.1% T424F 2.27 0.26 11.6% D425F 0.02 0.02 124.5% A426F 1.75 0.19 10.8% I427F 1.95 0.25 12.8% G428F 0.25 0.14 56.1% I429F 0.46 0.06 12.0% P430F 0.41 0.05 11.2% R431F 1.80 0.16 8.7% P432F 0.19 0.11 56.4% E433F 1.31 0.14 10.4% I434F 0.13 0.05 41.2% T435F 1.16 0.13 11.0% Y436F 4.35 0.26 6.1% A437F 2.44 0.22 9.0% I438F 0.07 0.03 39.8% D439F 0.01 0.01 73.0% D440F 0.03 0.04 155.6% Y441F 0.03 0.04 119.5% V442F 0.01 0.01 175.0% K443F 4.64 0.27 5.9% R444F 2.41 0.26 10.8% H448F 0.87 0.07 8.3% T449F 2.47 0.30 12.0% R450F 0.04 0.05 112.7% E451F 2.15 0.22 10.0% V452F 1.17 0.18 15.3% Y453F 0.17 0.18 106.1%

TABLE 13 U/ml Reaction (culture medium) ratio Enzyme Glucose Maltose Mal/Glu I477F 0.83 0.20 24% T478F 0.03 0.03 104% G479F 0.05 0.05 96% S480F 0.08 0.11 144% T481F 0.01 0.00 −20% I482F 0.01 −0.01 −200% M483F 2.54 0.22 9% G484F 0.01 0.01 116% A485F 0.05 0.06 116% D486F 0.77 0.10 14% A487F 0.10 0.07 67% R488F 0.08 0.07 88% D489F 1.57 0.18 11% S490F 0.03 0.04 149% V491F 0.05 0.04 81% V492F 0.08 0.08 109% D493F 0.05 0.03 77% K494F 1.32 0.26 20% D495F 0.10 0.07 74% C496F 0.04 0.07 150% R497F 0.19 0.13 68%

TABLE 14 U/ml Reaction (culture medium) ratio Enzyme Glucose Maltose Mal/Glu S509F 0.16 0.04 24% A510F 0.20 0.05 25% T511F 0.18 0.04 20% M512F 2.18 0.25 11% P513F 3.50 0.35 10% T514F 0.01 0.00 41% V515F 0.04 0.03 78% G516F 0.02 0.01 76% T517F 0.03 0.02 83% V518F 0.02 0.01 73% N519F 0.04 0.03 78% V520F 0.02 0.01 58% T521F −0.01 −0.01 168% L522F 0.01 0.00 −29% T523F 0.01 0.00 24% I524F 0.01 −0.01 −110% A525F 3.20 0.24 7% A526F 0.02 0.00 23% L527F 0.29 0.10 34% A528F 0.00 −0.01 350% L529F 3.32 0.30 9% R530F 0.40 0.10 26% M531F 0.10 0.04 42% S532F 0.00 0.00 23% D533F 0.03 0.01 27% L537F 0.45 0.10 22% E538F 3.08 0.52 17% V539F 1.52 0.29 19%

As a result, it was found that 472D+475H+365F was an extremely effective mutation, which reduced reactivity to maltose to a level of 1%, while maintaining the reactivity to glucose.

Among mutations other than the mutation at the 365th position, mutations for substituting phenylalanine for G324, S326, L333, W334, S368, R369, K376, I377, V418, P419, Y436, K433, H448, A525 and L529 reduced the reactivity to maltose to 60% or less compared with that before the mutagenesis, and thus they were effective.

Example 4 Examination of Mutagenesis at 365th Position

From the results obtained in Example 3, it was estimated that the 365th position was a very effective position for reducing the reactivity to maltose. Therefore, it was decided to examine this position in detail.

Specifically, the substrate characteristic improving effect of single mutagenesis at the 365th position of the α-subunit gene was examined.

Mutagenesis was carried out at the 365th position of the wild type GDH α-subunit gene contained in pTrc99Aγαβ, and the substrate specificity of the mutated enzyme was evaluated. The mutagenesis was carried out in the same manner as that used in Example 2.

Forward primers for the mutagenesis were as follows. Completely complementary strands of the forward primers were used as reverse primers.

TABLE 15 Primers for substitution at S365 position Amino acid substitution SEQ ID NO S365G 205 S365A 206 S365V 207 S365L 208 S365I 209 S365M 210 S365P 211 S365F 212 S365W 213 S365T 214 S365N 215 S365Q 216 S365Y 217 S365C 218 S365K 219 S365R 220 S365H 221 S365D 222 S365E 223

Example 5 Analysis of Substrate Specificity of Mutant GDHs

By using the mutant GDH expressing plasmids obtained in Example 4, mutant GDHs were prepared, and substrate specificities thereof were examined in the same manner as in Example 3. The enzymatic activity was examined by using crude enzyme samples. The specific activity for glucose, specific activity for maltose and reaction ratio (specific activity for maltose/specific activity for glucose, unit is U/ml.) of each mutant GDH are shown in Table 16. As for the substrate concentration, the evaluation was performed at 5 mM and 10 mM.

TABLE 16 Single mutagenesis U/ml (culture medium) 5 mM 10 mM Glucose Maltose Mal/Glc Glucose Maltose Mal/Glc Wild 2.87 0.77 26.9% 2.52 1.22 48.2% type S365F 3.02 0.46 15.4% 4.59 1.00 21.7% S365D 2.77 0.41 14.8% 4.73 0.87 18.4% S365H 0.90 0.04 4.3% 1.49 0.12 8.1% S365R 1.09 0.08 6.9% 1.96 0.28 14.1% S365W 0.47 0.01 2.3% 1.17 0.02 2.0% S365Y 1.42 0.02 1.6% 2.46 0.05 2.0% S365G 2.51 0.42 16.9% 3.80 0.81 21.3% S365E 0.55 0.04 7.6% 0.98 0.19 19.2% S365I 1.00 0.08 7.6% 1.56 0.16 10.5% S365P 0.62 0.06 9.7% 1.29 0.17 13.3% S365L 0.97 0.07 7.4% 1.59 0.19 11.7% S365N 1.90 0.23 12.3% 2.92 0.43 14.8% S365K 1.61 0.13 7.9% 2.35 0.26 10.9% S365Q 1.68 0.19 11.4% 3.53 0.44 12.6% S365M 2.10 0.29 13.7% 3.99 0.56 14.1% S365T 1.76 0.23 13.1% 3.19 0.56 17.4% S365A 3.14 0.49 15.7% 4.80 0.29 6.0% S365C 1.79 0.19 10.4% 2.74 0.20 7.4% S365V 2.20 0.26 12.0% 3.03 0.62 20.4%

As a result, as for the 365th position, the substrate characteristic improving effect was observed for substitutions of all the amino acid residues of 19 types other than the substitution of serine residue in the wild type. Specifically, all the amino acid substitutions reduced the reactivity to maltose by 50% or more compared with the wild type. In particular, after the substitutions of tyrosine and tryptophan residues, the reactivity to maltose was 2% or less at both the substrate concentrations, 5 mM and 10 mM, whereas the reaction ratio of the wild type was around 40%. That is, the substitutions reduced the reactivity to maltose by 90% or more, and thus extremely significant substrate characteristic improving effects were observed.

Example 6 Examination of Combination Effect of 365th Position and Other Positions

As shown by the results of Examples 2 and 5, the effect was confirmed at least for the combinations of the mutation at the 365th position with the mutations 365F and 472D+475H, and single mutagenesis by all the amino acid substitutions only at the 365th position. Therefore, it became clear that the 365th position was an extremely highly effective position for improving the substrate characteristics. Therefore, aiming at further improvement of the substrate characteristics by combining the amino acid substitution at the 365th position and amino acid substitutions at other positions, further studies were conducted. Specifically, double mutagenesis at the 365th position and any of the 326th, 529th and 472nd positions, and triple mutagenesis at the 365th, 472nd, and 475th positions were examined.

TABLE 17 Double mutagenesis U/ml (culture medium) 5 mM 10 mM Glucose Maltose Mal/Glc Glucose Maltose Mal/Glc S365Y 1.42 0.02 1.6% 2.46 0.05 2.0% (single mutation) S365F 3.02 0.46 15.4% 4.59 1.00 21.7% (single mutation) 365Y + 326C 2.56 0.02 1.0% 3.71 0.06 1.5% 365Y + 326Q 2.28 0.01 0.6% 3.32 0.03 1.0% 365Y + 326T 1.76 0.02 1.2% 2.64 0.06 2.3% 365Y + 326V 1.55 0.01 0.5% 2.47 0.01 0.5% 365Y + 326G 2.36 0.03 1.4% 3.32 0.09 2.6% 365Y + 326E 1.90 0.02 1.1% 2.82 0.05 1.7% 365Y + 326K 2.98 0.06 2.0% 4.22 0.17 4.0% 365Y + 326Y 1.60 0.02 1.3% 2.33 0.04 1.8% 365Y + 326H 1.27 0.02 1.5% 1.84 0.04 2.2% 365Y + 326R 1.84 0.01 0.8% 2.63 0.03 1.0% 365Y + 472F 1.35 0.01 0.8% 2.04 0.02 1.1% 365F + 326T 0.54 0.10 18.4% 6.84 1.38 20.1% 365F + 326G 0.46 0.08 17.8% 5.51 1.37 24.9% 365F + 326E 2.44 0.33 13.6% 3.06 0.61 19.8% 365F + 326R 3.14 0.49 15.5% 3.83 0.81 21.1% 365F + 472F 1.51 0.01 0.6% 2.28 0.02 1.0% 365Y + 475H 2.07 0.027 1.0% 3.62 0.044 1.5% 365Y + 475S 3.41 0.066 1.9% 4.54 0.116 2.6% 365Y + 472G 2.60 0.064 2.5% 4.76 0.078 1.6% 365Y + 472I 1.31 0.008 0.6% 2.04 0.020 1.0% 365Y + 472N 2.19 0.018 0.8% 3.42 0.052 1.5% 365Y + 472D 1.33 0.009 0.6% 2.08 0.004 0.2% 365Y + 472E 2.99 0.068 2.3% 5.27 0.089 1.7% 365Y + 472R 1.77 0.030 1.7% 2.87 0.025 0.9% 365Y + 472V 3.19 0.073 2.3% 5.10 0.095 1.9% 365Y + 472C 0.74 0.023 3.1% 1.07 0.018 1.7% 365Y + 472H 1.04 0.002 0.2% 1.63 0.005 0.3% 365Y + 472L 3.21 0.053 1.6% 4.85 0.062 1.3% 365Y + 472M 1.17 0.019 1.6% 1.87 0.029 1.5% 365Y + 472F 1.67 0.029 1.7% 2.99 0.043 1.4% 365Y + 472P 0.44 0.080 18.1% 0.72 0.048 6.7% 365Y + 472S 3.70 0.079 2.1% 4.74 0.087 1.8% 365Y + 472W 0.84 0.046 5.5% 1.63 0.044 2.7% 365Y + 472Y 0.98 0.051 5.2% 1.85 0.042 2.3%

TABLE 18 Triple mutagenesis U/ml (culture broth) 5 mM 10 mM Glucose Maltose Mal/Glc Glucose Maltose Mal/Glc 472D + 475H 1.54 0.19  13% 2.33 0.34  14% +S365F 1.33 0.01 0.7% 2.44 0.02 0.9% +S365D 0.25 0.01 2.1% 0.64 0.01 1.9% +S365H 0.48 0.01 1.9% 0.85 0.02 2.5% +S365R 0.15 0.01 9.6% 0.54 0.04 7.5% +S365W 0.30 0.01 3.0% 0.54 0.03 4.8% +S365Y 0.97 0.03 2.9% 1.66 0.08 5.1% +S365V 0.07 0.01 8.3% 0.16 0.01 6.8% 472Y + 475H 1.30 0.06 4.5% 2.06 0.15 7.3% +S365F 1.15 0.01 0.7% 1.83 0.01 0.6% +S365D 0.27 0.01 4.9% 0.55 0.05 9.5% +S365H 0.49 0.01 1.1% 0.95 0.01 1.5% +S365R 0.33 0.02 5.0% 0.83 0.06 6.9% +S365W 0.22 0.01 2.3% 0.37 0.01 3.0% +S365Y 1.09 0.04 4.0% 1.88 0.13 6.8% +S365V 0.79 0.02 2.0% 472F + 475S 0.67 0.05 7.6% 1.35 0.11 8.0% +S365F 0.88 0.06 6.7% 1.19 0.08 7.1% +S365D 0.35 0.01 4.2% 0.97 0.03 3.5% +S365H 0.04 0.00 9.7% 0.13 0.00 3.4% +S365R 0.39 0.02 4.9% 0.92 0.04 4.5% +S365W 0.10 0.00 2.9% 0.24 0.00 1.3% +S365Y 0.36 0.01 4.1% 0.56 0.02 3.0% 472F + 475H 2.75 0.35 12.8%  3.90 0.63 16.1%  +S365Y

It was found that the substrate characteristics were synergistically improved by the combinations with all the positions examined, and it became clear that the substrate characteristics could be further improved by a combination of a mutation at the 365th position and amino acid substitution at another position improving the substrate characteristics.

Example 7 Examination of Combination Effect of 472nd and 475th Positions with Other Positions

From the results of Example 6, it was suggested that a combination of amino acid substitutions showing a substrate characteristic improving effect might synergistically improve the substrate characteristics.

Therefore, combination effect of a mutation at the 472 or 475th position, for which the substrate characteristic improving effect was already confirmed by the inventors of the present invention, and a mutation at a position other than the 365th position was examined.

Specifically, combinations of mutations of 472D+475H, which showed the highest substrate characteristic improving effect among the combinations of mutations at the 472nd and 475th position, and a mutation at the 326th position or the 529th position were examined. Moreover, other mutations at the 472nd and 475th positions were also examined.

TABLE 19 Triple mutagenesis U/ml (culture broth) 5 mM 10 mM Glucose Maltose Mal/Glc Glucose Maltose Mal/Glc 472D + 475H 1.54 0.19  13% 2.33 0.34  14% +326C 1.27 0.03 2.4% 2.08 0.11 5.2% +326Q 1.22 0.02 1.8% 2.04 0.09 4.2% +326T 1.29 0.02 1.8% 2.13 0.10 4.7% +326V 0.69 0.01 2.0% 1.10 0.03 3.0% +326G 1.98 0.07 3.6% 2.99 0.22 7.3% +326L 0.09 0.00 3.1% 0.24 0.01 3.4% +326E 0.34 0.00 0.8% 0.69 0.02 2.9% +326I 0.35 0.01 1.7% 0.77 0.06 7.5% +326K 1.55 0.05 3.1% 1.87 0.14 7.2% 472D + 475H + 326Q 1.20 0.02 1.7% 1.87 0.07 3.9% 472E + 475H + 326Q 1.55 0.08 5.5% 2.69 0.26 9.7% 472H + 475H + 326Q 0.10 0.02 23.6%  0.17 0.06 32.0%  472I + 475H + 326Q 1.05 0.03 2.6% 1.81 0.08 4.5% 472L + 475H + 326Q 2.17 0.15 6.7% 3.41 0.32 9.3% 472M + 475H + 326Q 3.07 0.28 9.0% 4.99 0.53 10.7%  472N + 475H + 326Q 2.45 0.24 9.7% 4.01 0.57 14.3%  472W + 475H + 326Q 2.82 0.44 15.8%  4.37 0.89 20.4%  472Y + 475H + 326Q 1.73 0.07 4.3% 3.03 0.19 6.1% 472D + 475H + 326V 0.69 0.01 2.0% 1.10 0.03 3.0% 472E + 475H + 326V 1.90 0.12 6.2% 2.88 0.25 8.8% 472H + 475H + 326V 1.07 0.08 7.4% 1.91 0.19 9.7% 472I + 475H + 326V 2.90 0.26 9.0% 4.35 0.69 15.9%  472L + 475H + 326V 1.32 0.05 4.1% 2.00 0.12 6.1% 472M + 475H + 326V 3.52 0.32 9.0% 5.64 0.41 7.4% 472N + 475H + 326V 2.85 0.25 8.7% 4.48 0.49 10.9%  472W + 475H + 326V 2.71 0.38 14.0%  4.56 0.74 16.2%  472Y + 475H + 326V 0.99 0.01 1.2% 1.79 0.05 2.5%

TABLE 20 Triple mutagenesis U/ml(culture broth) 5 mM 10 mM Glucose Maltose Mal/Glc Glucose Maltose Mal/Glc 472D + 475H 1.54 0.19 12.5% 2.33 0.34 14.5% +529F 2.13 0.29 13.7% 3.11 0.41 13.3% +529Y 0.21 0.02 8.3% 0.42 0.03 7.9% +529H 1.36 0.11 7.8% 2.24 0.21 9.4% +529W 0.49 0.03 5.1% 0.78 0.04 5.7%

TABLE 21 Quadruple mutagenesis U/ml (culture broth) 5 mM 10 mM Mal/ Mal/ Glucose Maltose Glc Glucose Maltose Glc 472D + 475H + 0.49 0.01 1.9% 0.93 0.03 2.8% 529H + 326Q 472D + 475H + 0.45 0.02 4.7% 0.72 0.07 10.1% 529W + 326Q

The synergistic effect was also confirmed for combinations of mutations at the 472 and 475th positions and other positions. In particular, the quadruple mutagenesis at the 472nd, 475th, 326th and 529th positions showed a high reducing effect for reactivity to maltose, and it was also demonstrated by this result that the substrate characteristics could be synergistically improved by combinations of the amino acid substitutions having a substrate characteristic improving effect.

Example 7 Preparation of Purified Enzymes

Some mutant GDHs among those for which improvement of the substrate specificity was observed in Examples 5 and 6 were purified. The method was the same as that described in Example 3. Specific activities (U/mg) for glucose of the purified enzymes are shown in Table 8.

As a result, it became clear that the mutations including S365Y maintained about 90% of the specific activity for glucose, and thus they were preferred mutations from the viewpoint of glucose measurement. Moreover, it also became clear that the S326Q mutation had an effect of increasing the specific activity for glucose.

TABLE 22 Specific Enzyme activity Wild type 1490 U/mg-p 472Y + 475H + 326V 1547 U/mg-p 365Y 1234 U/mg-p 326Q + 365Y 1316 U/mg-p 472D + 475H + 365F  477 U/mg-p 472D + 475H + 529W  963 U/mg-p 472D + 475H + 529H  961 U/mg-p 472D + 475H + 326Q 1316 U/mg-p 472D + 475H + 326V 1157 U/mg-p

Example 8 Preparation of Calorimetric Sensor for Measuring Blood Sugar Levels Using Mutant GDHs

Colorimetric sensors for measuring blood sugar level were prepared by using the mutant GDHs obtained in Example 7.

A glucose sensor having a basic structure shown in FIG. 1 was prepared. That is, the aforementioned glucose sensor had a configuration that a transparent cover 4A (material: PET) was laminated on a transparent base plate 2A via a spacer 3, and the capillary 5A was defined by the elements 2A to 4A. The dimension of the capillary 5A was 1.3 mm×9 mm×50 μm (FIG. 1). The transparent base plate 2A and the transparent cover 4A were formed with PET having a thickness of 250 μm, and the spacer 3A was formed with a black double-sided tape.

The glucose sensor had a first reagent part, a second reagent part and a third reagent part shown in FIG. 2, and ingredients and coating amounts for each part are shown in Table 23. In the table, “Ru” represents a ruthenium hexaammine complex (Ru(NH₃)₆Cl₃), CHAPS represents 3-[(3-cholamidopropyl)dimethylammonio]propanesulfonic acid, ACES represents N-(2-acetamido)-2-aminoethanesulfonic acid, and MTT represents 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide.

TABLE 23 First reagent part Material solution for reagent part containing electron transfer substance (solvent is water) Ru Coating amount 200 mM 0.2 μl Second reagent part Material solution for reagent part containing enzyme (solvent is water) Enzyme Sucrose Coating concentration CHAPS monolaurate ACES (pH 7.5) amount 15 KU/ml 0.20% 0.05% 75 mM 0.1 μl Third reagent part Material solution for reagent part containing color developer (solvent is water) MTT Acrylamide Methanol Coating amount 60 mM 0.40% 50% 0.2 μl

An assay sample was supplied to the capillary of the aforementioned glucose sensor, and thereafter absorbance was repeatedly measured every 0.1 second to prepare a time course of absorbance. For each measurement of absorbance, the third reagent part was irradiated with light along the direction of the height of the capillary, and upon the irradiation, light that transmitted through the glucose sensor was received. The light irradiation was attained by irradiation with light of 630 nm using a light-emitting diode. The transmitted light was received with a photodiode.

As the assay sample, blood added with glucose was used. Blood samples of which hematocrit was adjusted to 42% were added with glucose at concentrations of 0, 100, 200, 400, 600 and 800 mg/dl and used to evaluate linearity of the glucose sensor. The linearity was evaluated by plotting absorbance values at endpoints 5 seconds after the introduction of the assay samples into the sensor. The results are shown in FIG. 3.

Further, blood samples of which hematocrit was adjusted to 45% and glucose concentration was adjusted to 45 mg/dl were further added with maltose at concentrations of 0, 100, 200 and 300 mg/dl, and used to evaluate influence of maltose. The results are shown in FIG. 4. The linearity was evaluated by plotting absorbance values at endpoints 5 seconds after the introduction of the assay samples also in this test.

When the linearity was evaluated by using glucose as the substrate, the absorbance increased in a concentration-dependent manner with all the enzymes, and it can be seen that glucose can be measured. In particular, the mutant GDHs including the mutation 365Y or 326Q365Y, which is a mutation including a mutation at the 365th position, showed improved linearity compared with that shown by the wild type, and thus it is suggested that they enables the measurement up to a higher concentration (around 600 mg/dl).

As for the influence of maltose, when maltose was added to the samples containing 45 mg/dl of glucose, absorbance increased in a maltose concentration-dependent manner with the wild type, which suggested strong reaction with maltose. On the other hand, with the sensors using the mutant enzymes, the maltose concentration-dependent increase of the absorbance was suppressed, showing less influence of maltose. The results obtained by converting these data into apparent blood sugar elevation values are shown in FIG. 5 and Table 24. In the sensor using the wild type enzyme, a hypoglycemic level (45 mg/dl of glucose) was apparently indicated as a normal value (138 mg/dl of glucose) due to contamination of maltose. On the other hand, in the sensors using the modified GDHs, the apparent blood sugar level elevated to only 60 mg/dl at most, even when the sample is contaminated with up to 300 mg/dl of maltose, and thus it can be said that the influence was significantly suppressed. In conclusion, it is suggested that mutations including a mutation at the 365th position are the most suitable in view of reactivity to glucose (linearity) and influence of maltose.

TABLE 24 Maltose addition Wild type 365Y 326Q + 365Y 472D + 475H + 365F  0 45 45 45 45 100 75 45 47 46 200 113 48 47 48 300 138 50 58 54 Maltose 472Y + 472D + 472D + 472D + 472D + addition 475H + 326V 475H + 529W 475H + 529H 475H + 326Q 475H + 326V  0 45 45 45 45 45 100 53 45 46 45 45 200 60 46 47 49 47 300 60 47 49 50 53 *Unit: mg/dl

As clearly seen from the above results, in the glucose sensors using the mutant GDHs, reactivity to maltose was significantly decreased even though the linearity was maintained to an extent comparable to or hither than that of the wild type. It can be said that if these glucose sensors using the mutant GDHs are used, erroneous values are not observed at the upper limit of blood maltose level administered at hospitals or the like, 200 mg/dl, and even at 300 mg/dl higher than the upper limit, a hypoglycemic value (50 mg/dl or less) is not judged as a normal value or hyperglycemic level, and thus safe therapeutic treatment can be conducted. Further, since GDHs do not react with dissolved oxygen as described above, accurate diagnosis and treatment of diabetic patients can be conducted by providing sensors using these mutant GDHs.

Example 9 Evaluation of Purified Enzymes Based on SV Plot

SV plots were obtained for the 365Y and 326Q+365Y mutated GDHs, for which substrate specificity improving effect was observed in Examples 5 and 6, as purified enzymes.

As a result, it was confirmed that the reaction ratios (specific activity for maltose/specific activity for glucose) of the purified enzymes were also became markedly lower than that of the wild type and thus improved at all the examined substrate concentrations.

Further, since the results were substantially consistent with the measurement results obtained by using the crude enzyme solutions, sufficient feasibility for evaluation of modified enzymes using crude enzymes could be confirmed. In addition, since the blood maltose level elevates up to 200 mg/dl even at most, attentions were paid particularly to the reaction ratios at the substrate concentrations of 10 mM (360 mg/dl) and 5 mM (180 mg/dl). As a result, the maltose/glucose reaction ratio of the S365Y mutated GDH was 0.1% in this concentration range, and thus it was suggested that it hardly reacted with maltose.

Moreover, it also became clear that use of the mutation 326Q in addition to the mutation 365Y can increase the specific activity for glucose, and relatively decrease the reactivity to maltose.

TABLE 25 Evaluation of enzymatic characteristics 40 20 10 5 2.5 1.25 0.625 mM specific activity for glucose wild type 1543.7 1490.0 1388.1 1223.4 925.1 604.6 346.2 U/mg-p 365Y 1464.4 1234.0 970.8 661.1 397.2 218.2 101.8 U/mg-p 326Q365Y 1525.8 1316.0 1022.4 686.4 436.8 238.8 114.7 U/mg-p specific activity for maltose wild type 658.1 501.9 335.3 194.3 85.9 27.9 5.4 U/mg-p 365Y 31.1 8.1 1.4 0.5 0.2 0.1 0.0 U/mg-p 326Q365Y 31.2 7.2 1.4 0.3 0.4 0.0 0.0 U/mg-p malsose/glucose (reaction ratio) wild type 42.6% 33.7% 24.2% 15.9% 9.3% 4.6% 1.6% % 365Y 2.1% 0.7% 0.1% 0.1% 0.0% 0.1% 0.0% % 326Q365Y 2.0% 0.5% 0.1% 0.0% 0.1% 0.0% 0.0% %

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The mutant GDH of the present invention has improved substrate specificity to glucose and can be suitably used for measurement of glucose using a glucose sensor or the like. 

1. A mutant glucose dehydrogenase comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3 or an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3 including substitution, deletion, insertion or addition of one or more amino acid residues other than the amino acid residue at the 365th position and having glucose dehydrogenase activity, wherein an amino acid residue at a position corresponding to the 365th position of the amino acid sequence is replaced with another amino acid residue, and the mutant glucose dehydrogenase shows an improved substrate specificity to glucose.
 2. The mutant glucose dehydrogenase according to claim 1, which has the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3 except for a position corresponding to the 365th position.
 3. The mutant glucose dehydrogenase according to claim 1, which shows a reduced reactivity to a disaccharide compared with a glucose dehydrogenase having a wild type amino acid residue at a position corresponding to the 365th position.
 4. The mutant glucose dehydrogenase according to claim 3, wherein the disaccharide is maltose.
 5. The mutant glucose dehydrogenase according to claim 4, which shows a reactivity to maltose in a degree of 20% or less of reactivity to glucose.
 6. The mutant glucose dehydrogenase according to claim 1, wherein the replacement amino acid residue is an amino acid residue selected from phenylalanine, tyrosine, tryptophan and histidine residues.
 7. The mutant glucose dehydrogenase according to claim 1, wherein amino acid residue or residues corresponding to at least one position selected from the 324th, 326th, 333rd, 334th, 368th, 369th, 376th, 377th, 418th, 419th, 436th, 433rd, 448th, 472nd, 475th, 525th and 529th positions in the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3 are replaced with another or other amino acid residues.
 8. The mutant glucose dehydrogenase according to claim 7, wherein the position consists of at least one position selected from the 326th, 472nd, 475th and 529th positions is replaced with another or other amino acid residues.
 9. The mutant glucose dehydrogenase according to claim 8, wherein the 472nd position is replaced with another or other amino acid residues.
 10. The mutant glucose dehydrogenase according to claim 8, wherein the 475th position is replaced with another or other amino acid residues.
 11. The mutant glucose dehydrogenase according to claim 8, wherein both the 472nd position and the 475th position are replaced with other amino acid residues.
 12. The mutant glucose dehydrogenase according to claim 8, wherein the 326th position is replaced with another or other amino acid residues.
 13. The mutant glucose dehydrogenase according to claim 8, wherein the 529th position is replaced with another or other amino acid residues.
 14. The mutant glucose dehydrogenase according to claim 9, wherein an amino acid residue at a position corresponding to the 472nd position is replaced with an amino acid residue selected from aspartic acid, glutamic acid, phenylalanine, tyrosine, isoleucine, asparagine and histidine residues.
 15. The mutant glucose dehydrogenase according to claim 10, wherein an amino acid residue at a position corresponding to the 475th position is replaced with histidine or serine residue.
 16. The mutant glucose dehydrogenase according to claim 12, wherein an amino acid residue corresponding to the 326th serine is replaced with glutamine or valine residue.
 17. The mutant glucose dehydrogenase according to claim 13, wherein an amino acid residue corresponding to the 529th leucine is replaced with tyrosine, histidine or tryptophan residue.
 18. A mutant glucose dehydrogenase having the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3 or an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3 including substitution, deletion, insertion or addition of one or more amino acid residues and having glucose dehydrogenase activity, which comprises (i) substitution of other amino acid residue or residues for a residue or residues at a position or positions corresponding to at least one position selected from the 324th, 326th, 333rd, 334th, 365th, 368th, 369th, 376th, 377th, 418th, 419th, 436th, 433rd, 448th, 525th and 529th positions in the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3, (ii) substitution of aspartic acid residue for an amino acid residue at a position corresponding to the 472nd position, and (iii) substitution of histidine residue for an amino acid residue at a position corresponding to the 475th position, wherein said mutant glucose dehydrogenase shows improved substrate specificity to glucose.
 19. The mutant glucose dehydrogenase according to claim 18, wherein the other amino acid residue or residues are selected from phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan residues.
 20. The mutant glucose dehydrogenase according to claim 18, wherein the position is the 326th position, and an amino acid residue at a position corresponding to the 326th position is replaced with glutamine or valine residue.
 21. The mutant glucose dehydrogenase according to claim 18, wherein the position is the 529th position, and an amino acid residue at a position corresponding to the 529th position is replaced with tyrosine, histidine or tryptophan residue.
 22. An FAD-binding type mutant glucose dehydrogenase comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:
 7. 23. A mutant glucose dehydrogenase complex comprising at least the mutant glucose dehydrogenase according to claim 1 and an electron transfer subunit.
 24. The glucose dehydrogenase complex according to claim 23, wherein the electron transfer subunit is cytochrome C.
 25. A DNA coding for the mutant glucose dehydrogenase according to claim
 1. 26. A microorganism harboring DNA coding for mutant glucose dehydrogenase comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3 or an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3 including substitution, deletion, insertion or addition of one or more amino acid residues other than the amino acid residue at the 365th position and having glucose dehydrogenase activity, wherein an amino acid residue at a position corresponding to the 365th position of the amino acid sequence is replaced with another amino acid residue, and the mutant glucose dehydrogenase shows an improved substrate specificity to glucose.
 27. A glucose assay kit comprising the mutant glucose dehydrogenase according to claim
 1. 28. A glucose sensor comprising the mutant glucose dehydrogenase according to claim
 1. 29. The microorganism according to claim 26, further comprising DNA coding for an electron transfer subunit.
 30. A glucose assay kit comprising the mutant glucose dehydrogenase complex according to claim
 23. 31. A glucose assay kit comprising the microorganism according to claim
 26. 32. A glucose sensor comprising the mutant glucose dehydrogenase complex according to claim 23
 33. A glucose sensor comprising the microorganism according to claim
 26. 